1. Defensive tackle.The Eagles have very little depth behind aging starters Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins and nobody with future starting potential. They need a gap-shooting, upfield tackle who fits the team’s unique wide-nine scheme. He can start off in the rotation and eventually succeed either Patterson or Jenkins. This draft is rife with them.

2. Inside linebacker. The trade for DeMeco Ryans armed the team with its first Pro Bowl-level middle linebacker since the Jeremiah Trotter days, but the Eagles have virtually no depth there and would be extremely vulnerable if Ryans were injured. They have plenty of reserve outside linebackers, but only Jamar Chaney — the projected strongside linebacker — can adequately play the middle.

3. Offensive tackle. The Achilles' rupture that will sideline offensive tackle Jason Peters for several months — and likely the season — forced the Eagles into scramble mode to sign free agent Demetress Bell off the scrap heap. Given the uncertainty that Peters will return to All-Pro form and the team’s lack of depth at tackle, they should be looking for one in the first few rounds.

TARGETING

With ample talent at myriad positions, this draft will be about bolstering the team’s depth and acquiring prospects who may have to wait one or two years to break into the starting lineup. After a few years of reaching for need, the brain trust has insisted it will take the best available player, so the Eagles could look for any number of different players with their three picks in the first two rounds.

At 15, the Eagles will have the chance to get one of the half-dozen impact defensive tackles, the position where they’re most thin. But if they want defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, a potential top-12 pick, or Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly, a potential top-10 pick, they have enough ammunition to move up. If they stay at 15 and aren’t impressed with what they see, the Eagles won’t be afraid to trade out of the first round and stockpile more picks.

Cox has the upfield burst the team prefers from interior linemen but only had one outstanding year in college. Kuechly is the top middle linebacker and comes with few knocks against him, but the Eagles place low priority on linebackers in their 4-3 scheme and haven’t used a first-round pick on a linebacker since 1979.

The Eagles have worked out many of the elite quarterback prospects, and while it’s far-fetched to think they would trade up for Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill, they could feasibly draft him if he falls to 15. They have two second-round picks, so they could be eyeing a second-tier quarterback — such as Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins or Arizona’s Nick Foles — after the first round. Michael Vick’s track record of injuries and struggles last season, coupled with the number of pro prospects at the position, make this year a good one for the Eagles to find their next franchise quarterback.

THE TAKE

“We haven’t picked where we’re picking in a long time without trading up to get there. And we hope not to be picking here for a long time to come. We clearly want to come out of this with a player that we feel really good about and get someone who can make a difference, and that’s what we’re looking for as we go into the draft.” —general manager Howie Roseman

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